We have been involved with golden retrievers since 1997. It all started with my desire to do Pet Assisted Therapy with the perfect dog. After researching breeds I was convinced that the golden retriever was that perfect dog. This desire led me to a wonderful breeder of multi-titled golden retrievers. My family soon became involved with the preparations for the new puppy, and looked forward to the day we brought home Goldleaves Jewel of Bouncette, "Julie". Soon afterwards we brought home Julie's litter mate, Goldleaves Bea's Little Angel, "Angie". With these two girls we have spent many hours, and made many new friends doing Pet Assisted Therapy work.
Julie and Angie established Honeybear Goldens. Both have produced therapy and service dogs, as well wonderful pets. Now their legacy lives on in their daughters who have also produced puppies for service dog organizations here in Southern California.
In 2004 it became necessary for us to change our kennel name, the reason being, we discovered another established breeder of Golden Retrievers already using the Honeybear name.Selecting a new kennel name has not been that easy. We wanted to make sure we did it right this time and didn't have to make another change in the future. So, after much consideration, we have decided to name our kennel after my mother's Scottish ancestral home, Kilravock, located near Inverness, Scotland. There the Rose Clan of Kilravock resided for centuries and still remains today.
We knew it would be difficult to pronounce Kilravock with the correct Gaelic pronunciation, Kill-rake, so we chose to spell it out phonetically, Kilraeke. It just seemed to fit. We fell in love with the idea of a Scottish theme that tied in with our family roots, as well as with the original golden retriever roots, going back to the first breeding done by Lord Tweedmouth of Guisachan, Scotland in 1865.
On our website you will notice that the Castle Kilravock is featured on this page. The Rose Clan dress tartan, and clan seal with the family motto "Constant and True" have all been implemented for personal significance. Many of my puppy owners have been attracted to this site, because of their shared "Scottish" roots.
Special thanks is given to my brother-in-law Monty Pearson who designed the Kilraeke kennel logo and has given us tremedous assistance through-out the years with our website and establishment of our kennel. We could not have done this without him.
Castle Kilravock (Kilraeke) near Inverness, Scotland
